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Minnesota efforts to ban sweepstakes casinos fall short
The Gopher State made a serious attempt at banning sweepstakes gaming, with legislation passing the Senate but stalling in the House. See why the bill failed here.
Minnesota legislation to prohibit sweepstakes casinos has died after failing to advance out of a House committee. The bill passed the Senate on April 30 but received no action in the committee before the state's 2026 legislative session ended in mid-May.
Late introduction leads to a tight window for passing the bill
Introduced by five state senators and seven representatives, Senate File 4744 targeted sweepstakes casinos by focusing on "dual-currency" models and simulated online casino games for real money.
Sweeps gaming relies on a dual-currency system of players buying gold coins (no monetary value) and getting "free" sweeps coins (which have redeemable value).
One potential reason why SF 4744 failed to make it out of the House committee was its late introduction.
The bill was presented to the Senate in mid-March, roughly one month after the legislative session opened on February 17. It took a month and a half to pass the Senate by a 62-3 margin. This left the House with just a couple of weeks to act.
Penalties went beyond just sweepstakes casinos
SF 4744 stood out because it went beyond just operators to also target individuals and companies that help facilitate sweepstakes gaming. Examples include payment processors, affiliates and other promoters, geolocation providers, and software developers. Online casinos tend to use a variety of online casino payment methods.
The legislation would've given the Minnesota Commissioner of Public Safety the ability to investigate violations, issue notices, and impose civil fines. The commissioner would've also been able to bring enforcement actions against violators if all other efforts failed.
Sweepstakes casinos to continue operating in Minnesota for now
With no ban in place, sweepstakes casinos can continue serving the North Star State. They're considered legal on a federal level, operating under the USPS sweepstakes guidelines.
However, some states, like Connecticut, Indiana, New Jersey, and New York, have passed legislation to effectively ban sweepstakes operators. Many states that have taken these actions feature regulated online gambling in some form or another, whether it be sports betting, real money online slots, blackjack, poker, etc.
Minnesota doesn't currently regulate any type of iGaming, such as slots, craps, roulette, or baccarat online. It hasn't legalized online sports betting either due to conflicts between tribal gaming interests, racetrack owners, and other potential stakeholders.
However, the Gopher State does have other legal forms of gambling, like tribal casinos, horse racing, lotteries, and poker rooms. Therefore, politicians likely still feel some push to ban unregulated sweepstakes casinos and protect local gambling operators.
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Written by Jeremy Olson
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